ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry P. Treñas wants the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to make public any update on the Ungka and Aganan flyovers.
Treñas, who chairs the committee on infrastructure of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Western Visayas, “requested DPWH, through Assistant Regional Director Al Fruto, to make public the third-party consulting firm’s recommendation on the Ungka and Aganan flyovers at the earliest possible time.”
The city mayor is still waiting for a response and may call for a committee meeting anytime this week.
Treñas earlier noted that the DPWH regional office could not make any comment because the result of the geotechnical investigation done by Manila-based Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants was submitted directly to DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan.
It is Bonoan who would release the result or recommendations based on the third-party consulting firm’s investigation.
Geotechnical investigation, according to trenchlesspedia.com, implies the use of different methods to determine the physical properties of soil and rock below the surface of the earth at a proposed installation site. It helps engineers make decisions regarding the type of tools that will be required to dig through the site in the most economical manner. It also assesses the potential environmental impact that a project may have on a particular area.
Geotechnical investigation is an essential step in any trenchless operation because knowledge of subsurface conditions is key to a successful project.
For the Ungka flyover, the geotechnical investigation focused on determining the cause of the vertical displacement or settlement in piers 4, 5 and 6 and formulating the appropriate intervention.
Ungka flyover was fully opened to traffic on Sept. 5, 2022 but was temporarily closed after just two weeks due to vertical displacement./PN
